The Biophysical Relationship Continuation
by ynotlleb
Summary: Sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution" about the married life of Sheldon and Bernardette.
1. 4 years later

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends.

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Late on a Friday night Professor Sheldon Cooper was watching "Star Trek" DVDs and waiting for his wife to come home from work. Finally, at 11.30pm the door opened and Sheldon ran over to his wife, Dr Bernardette Rostenkowski-Cooper. Sheldon picked up his wife and gave her a big hug to welcome her home.

"Sorry to be so late Sheldon, the meeting dragged on into the evening and then I had to go back to my office to sort out paperwork."

"Not a problem Bernadette, glad to have you home at last. Do you need anything to eat, we saved you some Thai food from earlier this evening."

"Oh Sheldon, I don't deserve you. Can we we just go to bed, I am really tired."

"Come to bed, you look exhausted. We can have some time together this weekend."

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Next morning Sheldon got up at 6.00am to watch "Doctor Who", he let his wife sleep in. When Bernadette finally awoke at 9.30am Sheldon made her a nice breakfast and they ate it together. At 10.00am Bernardette's phone rang, she spent half an hour on the phone with her boss talking about last night's meeting.

When she finally escaped from the call Bernadette burst into tears.

"Oh Sheldon, I hate my job, it is taking over my life!"

"It's OK Bernadette, I am here for you."

"When I started it was a good job, I was earning lots of money and working in the lab as a biologist. Now it is just meetings and paperwork and travel and late nights. I haven't been near the lab for weeks. Why did I study so hard for a PhD when I can't do any more science? My boss doesn't have a PhD."

Bernardette's phone rang again, Sheldon snatched it out of his wife's hand.

"Doctor Rostenkowski-Cooper can't come to the phone at the moment. Oh it's you Penny, I thought you were Bernardette's boss. I suppose you ladies have wedding things to talk about, here she is."

"Hi Bernie"

"Hi Penny, what time are we meeting at Amy's?"


	2. Wedding Day

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 2 - Amy and Howard's wedding day.

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Bernardette struggled through another week of meetings and late nights at work knowing she had something big to look forward to at the weekend. 4 years earlier Howard had been best man and Amy maid of honour when Bernadette married Sheldon. Now it was time for the Rostenkowski-Coopers to return the compliment at the wedding of Amy and Howard.

Maid of honour Bernardette and bridesmaid Penny spent the morning with bride to be Amy getting themselves ready in their wedding finery. They were just about to leave for the roof of 2311 Los Robles when Bernadette's phone rang.

"Hello, oh its you again. Did you not listen to what I told you yesterday at work, I am about to leave to act as maid of honour at the wedding of one of my best friends and you call me to talk about last nights meeting. Do not call me again this weekend, I shall see you on Monday."

Amy said "problem Bernie?"

Bernadette "not for you today, let's get you married."

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At the post-wedding party Sheldon introduced his wife to one of Amy's work friends.

Sheldon "Jane, this is my wife Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Cooper, Bernadette this is Amy's friend Dr. Jane Parker and her husband Andreas. She has the next door office to Amy at Caltech, her PhD is in microbiology as well."

Bernadette "Pleased to meet you."

Jane "What do you do for a living?"

Bernadette "I work for Zangen pharmaceuticals"

Jane "You must like earning lots of money."

Bernadette "You can have too much of a good thing. I used to love my job when I could do some science. Now it is all meetings and paperwork and late nights. My boss won't leave me alone, he called me as we were about to leave for the wedding this morning."

Jane "I know what you are going through. I worked for a drug company 7 years ago when I got my PhD, at first it was great earning lots of money. Then Andy and I got married, after Angela was born I took some maternity leave but when I got back to work I couldn't face it any more, I quit after six months."

Bernadette "So what did you do next?"

Jane "Well I was just a stay at home mother for a while, but then an old friend at Caltech got pregnant and told me about a 1 year maternity cover post running the microbiology research lab, she never came back to work after the baby was born. And now as you can see Angela's baby brother is coming in 4 months time. Do you want to do my 1 year maternity cover?"


	3. Sheldon's lunchtime chat

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 3 - Sheldon talks to Amy's friend Jane.

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The Monday after the wedding Bernadette and Sheldon both returned to work. Bernadette had a big argument with her boss about the Saturday phone call. At Caltech Sheldon called Dr. Parker.

Jane "Hello Dr. Parker, microbiology lab."

Sheldon "Hello Jane, this is Professor Sheldon Cooper."

Jane "Hello Sheldon, did you enjoy the wedding?"

Sheldon "Wonderful, Amy and Howard have just arrived in England for their honeymoon. Jane, were you serious about Bernadette applying for your job?"

Jane "Why not, she is more than qualified, Caltech advertised the job last month and the closing date is next Monday."

Sheldon "May I buy you lunch today Jane, I would like to have a chat?"

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Two hours later, after telling Leonard and Raj he couldn't make lunch with them today, Sheldon met Jane in the cafeteria.

Sheldon "Thanks for meeting me for lunch today Jane."

Jane "Not a problem, it would be good to get someone competent to keep the lab going when I am on leave."

Sheldon "So what do you do in the microbiology lab Jane?"

Jane "I am an experimental officer, I keep the lab equipment in good order, I make sure the correct biological safety procedures are followed. The biggest thing I do is train new staff and students in operation of the electron microscopes."

Sheldon "Electron microscopes, fascinating. I helped Bernadette with the electron microscope part of her PhD thesis shortly after I met her."

Jane "I also help out with research work, I have my own little research project that I do on the side when my duties allow. I do have a PhD and I try and keep my hand in with as much science as I can."

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Later that night, when Bernadette eventually got home from work the following conversation ensued.

Sheldon "A bad day at work?"

Bernadette "As always!"

Sheldon "I had an interesting chat with Amy's friend Dr. Parker, who we met at the wedding."

Bernadette "Oh really?"

Sheldon "Closing date for the job is next Monday at noon, how up to date is your resumé?"


	4. Saturday together

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 4 - Sheldon and Bernadette prepare a job application.

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The Saturday after the wedding Sheldon and Bernadette spent the day preparing to apply for Jane's maternity cover post. Bernadette turned off her phone so her boss couldn't call her.

Sheldon "You do realise what you are potentially getting yourself into with this job."

Bernadette "Yes, it is only a one year post and less than half the weekly salary I am getting from Zangen. However, with all the late nights I have been working lately the hourly salary isn't that different."

Sheldon "That's true, Dr. Parker is able to do her job and get back home with her husband and daughter every evening."

Bernadette "If I were to get this job I would be able to come home from work every day with my husband. Most of my Zangen salary over the last 4 years has been invested, I am not short of savings."

Sheldon "I'm a Professor now, we wouldn't starve straight away if you were to leave this job after a year. Now back to this application form. Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper, what makes you suitably qualified for this post?"

Bernadette "Well Professor Cooper, a fair question. In these days of greater industrial funding for academic research I think that my academic experience which led to my PhD in microbiology followed by my professional experience with Zangen would give me a broader perspective on modern microbiology than anyone following a purely academic career path."

Two hours later they had got the application form and resumé in good order. They held hands as they pressed the submit key for the job application together.

After the application whooshed off into the ether Sheldon said "Penny, Leonard and Raj are all coming round for Pizza in an hour. Not a word to our friends about this, we don't know if anything will come of it."

Bernadette turned on her phone and there were 5 text messages and 4 voicemails from her boss.

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1 hour later Penny, Leonard and Raj arrived.

Bernadette "Hello, welcome to our humble home. Any more news from the honeymooners?"

Raj "They are in Cambridge this weekend, lucky blighters!"


	5. Honeymoon return

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 5 - Bernadette gets a message from Caltech.

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Sheldon and Bernadette had worked hard on Saturday to get the Caltech job application submitted on time, Monday was the closing date. Two days later Bernadette got an email from Janine Davis from Caltech Human Resources inviting her to an interview in 2 weeks time! The Rostenkowski-Coopers decided to keep it quiet and not tell their friends.

On Saturday the other 5 were all at the airport to welcome Amy and Howard from their honeymoon. A lot had changed for Bernadette since her friends got married. They let their newlywed friends go home together and get over the jet leg.

Everyone was back to work on Monday. Bernardette had another argument with her boss, she knew there was a possible escape route but she didn't want to build up her hopes. On Monday night the whole gang was invited round to the Fowler-Wolowitz household for the second part of the post honeymoon reunion.

When Bernadette and Sheldon arrived Amy had an astonishing announcement to make.

Amy "Back to work today, loads of emails to catch up with. Bernie, you met my friend Jane at the wedding, she is going off on maternity leave in 3 months time. Caltech has advertised her maternity cover post, the job interview for this post is next week. They have asked me to go on the interview panel and they gave the names of the candidates. You are one of the candidates!"

Bernadette "Oh boy. We wanted to keep this quiet and not build up my hopes too much. I am not happy with my job with Zangen, it would be nice to work at the same place as my husband, I am sure you can relate to that."

Amy "I wish you well but if Caltech asks if I know you I will have to tell the truth."

Bernadette "I wouldn't want you to do anything else Amy. Now let's hear about England."


	6. Interview day

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 6 - Bernadette's job interview.

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Bernadette was nervously waiting outside the interview room when Janine Davis came out to get her.

Janine "Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper? Hello, I am Janine Davis, Caltech Human Resources, I am here to take you into the interview room."

Bernardette shook her hand and said "pleased to meet you."

Janine "Cooper, are you related to Sheldon Cooper?"

Bernadette "Professor Sheldon Cooper is my husband."

Janine "Oh you poor thing! Here's entrance to the interview room, come with me."

Bernadette "Thank you."

Janine "Ladies and Gentleman, here is our final candidate for the microbiology experimental officer post, Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Cooper. May I introduce the interview panel. On the left is Dr. Jane Parker, she is the current experimental officer who is going on maternity leave in 2 months. In the middle is Professor Tom Kariuki, head of the microbiology department. On the right is Dr. Amy Fowler-Wolowitz of the neurobiology department, she will be asking more general biological questions. Each member of the panel will ask you questions in turn, at the end you will have an opportunity to ask questions. Now before we start Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper I want to make sure that you are fully aware that is only a one year maternity cover post, Caltech can make no commitment to any further employment after Dr. Parker returns from maternity cover."

Bernadette "Yes I understand that."

Janine "Also we would like the successful candidate to start as soon as possible so there is an overlap period between the maternity cover person and Dr. Parker, it will give Dr. Parker the chance to show the new person the ropes. Would that be a problem for you and your current employers if you were to be offered the job?"

Bernadette "It would not be a problem for me. If I were to be offered a new job then as a professional scientist I would like to leave things in good order with my current employer before leaving. Other than that it would be no concern of mine if my current employers would find this a problem."

Janine "The panel will deliberate after the end of the interviews to determine the most favoured candidate, we hope to contact this person by tomorrow afternoon. Professor Kariuki if you wish to start?"

Kariuki "Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper, how did you find out about this job?"

Bernadette "Dr. Parker told me about the job at Amy's, I mean at Dr. Fowler-Wolowitz's wedding, where I was maid of honour. My husband is Caltech Physics Professor Sheldon Cooper. I want everyone on the panel to know this before we get started, I want to be considered for this job on my own terms, not through my personal connections with Caltech."

Kariuki "You are married to Sheldon Cooper?"

Bernadette "Yes I am, lucky me."

Kariuki "You are currently employed in the new drug development group at Zangen pharmaceuticals. I suppose that a job like that could pay a far greater salary than academia. I would imagine, although it is not my place to ask, that you are earning more money in your current job than I am as a tenured Professor. So why potentially give that up for a one year post here at Caltech with no guarantee of further employment?"

Bernadette "A valid question Professor, I was sure that you would ask it. A question for you Professor, I am sure you worked hard to get your PhD and then kept working hard to become a Professor. Are you still able to do any science?"

Kariuki "I don't get to do as much as I like with all my teaching and administration duties. However, I try and spend a couple of hours a week in the lab with my graduate students."

Bernadette "10 years ago, when I got my masters degree, I was offered a job in scientific administration with another pharmaceutical company, not Zangen. I turned them down because I wanted to do some real science of my own. I waited tables for 5 years to help pay for my doctoral studies. Then when I got my PhD I went to Zangen. At first I was doing real work in the lab with Zangen, all my sacrifices to get my PhD had been worth it. I was doing new interesting science and getting well paid. But then the paperwork and meetings started to replace the science, I hardly set foot in the lab these days. What I am doing at the moment doesn't need a PhD, if I had known this was my future I wouldn't have bothered with the sacrifices of doctoral study, I would have gone into scientific administration. I still want to do science, this job would give me the chance, even if only for one year, to get a lot closer to new science than I get with my endless meetings at Zangen. "The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out", as someone from Caltech once said."

Kariuki "Thank you. Dr. Parker will ask the next question."

Jane "In the lab you may be dealing with potentially dangerous biological materials, what would you do if you saw someone in the lab not following the correct safety procedures?"

Bernadette "I would make them stop what they were doing and ask them if they knew what they were doing wrong. If required I would make their lab working area safe. I would then make sure that this person was fully aware of what they were doing wrong. Depending of the severity of what they were doing I might have a word with their supervisor if it were a graduate student or postdoc. If they kept doing this I would kick them out of the lab and not let them work unsupervised."

Jane "What if Professor Kariuki had not been following the correct safety procedures?"

Bernadette "I would kick him out straight away, I would hope that he would know better than that!"

Kariuki "Looks like I would have to watch my step if you were to get the job Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper!"

Bernadette "I would hope that everyone would watch their step, and ask questions if they weren't sure, biological safety is not a laughing matter."

Kariuki "Indeed, any further questions on this topic Dr. Parker."

Jane "No, I am happy with her answer."

Kariuki "Dr. Fowler-Wolowitz will ask the next question."

Amy "Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper, you would be responsible for a suite of electron microscopes in the microbiology lab. What can you tell us about the use of these instruments in biology?..."

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40 minutes later it was all over. They let Bernadette go and she went to meet her husband. As she approached Sheldon's office she turned on her phone and 30 seconds later her boss called. Sheldon heard her coming and opened the door as she replied.

"Oh it's you. What did you mean why didn't I answer the earlier calls. Today I have a day off work, I know that it is a difficult concept for you to imagine. What I do on my days off is no concern of yours or anyone else at Zangen. You want to see me tomorrow at work at 10.00am? I shall see you then, good afternoon."

Sheldon "Let me guess, your wonderful boss called to say hello?"

Bernadette "Congratulations, you guessed correctly and you win a prize. You get to take me home."

Sheldon "Lucky me. So how did the interview go?"


	7. One day later

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 7 - The day after Bernadette's job interview.

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Next day at 10.00am Bernadette turned up to meet her boss. The meeting did not take long and the boss did all the talking.

"Good morning, I hope you enjoyed your day away from Zangen yesterday. This is Mrs Wang from Human Resources and Mr Jones from security. Mrs Wang has some forms for you to sign. The first is a non-disclosure agreement confirming that you will never discuss any of the commercially confidential aspects of your work here at Zangen. The second is a form acknowledging the receipt of a cheque to the value of 3 months of your salary. Copies of these forms will be posted to your home address later today. After you have signed these forms Mr Jones will escort you back to your office where you will be permitted to remove any personal items. You will then give your ID badge and all of Zangen keys to Mr Jones before he escorts you off site. You now have the opportunity to enjoy more days away from Zangen, you are FIRED!"

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An hour later, after stopping at the bank to deposit the cheque, Bernadette got back home and burst into tears. She had driven past the Cheesecake Factory on the way back home, she wondered if she should ask for her old job back.

She made some lunch and a cup of tea, she was trying to get up her nerve to call Sheldon and tell him the bad news when her phone rang.

Bernardette tentatively answered "Hello, yes this is Dr. Rostenkowsi-Cooper, good afternoon Mrs Davis, how are you?"

Janine "I am fine. Thank you for attending the interview yesterday. We would like to offer you the job, if you are still interested when would you like to start?"

Bernadette "I could start tomorrow if you like!"

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10 minutes later Bernardette called her husband.

"Hello Sheldon, I have bad news and good news..."


	8. Together at Caltech

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 8 - Bernadette starts her new job at Caltech.

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12 days after the interview, as it took Caltech that long to sort out the paperwork, Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Cooper started her new job as the Caltech microbiology laboratory experimental officer. Dr. Parker still had six weeks to show her the ropes before she left on maternity leave. The first two weeks were hard going, especially learning the quirks of the electron microscopes. She enjoyed having lunch with Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, Howard and Amy, Leonard joked that we needed to get Penny a job at Caltech. She got to go home with her husband every evening.

Then Bernadette suddenly got thrown in at the deep end. Dr. Parker's baby son, Michael Parker Fischer, was born 5 weeks early. Mother and baby were out of the hospital in 3 days, but Dr. Parker was in no position to help Bernardette run the lab.

After flying solo for only 2 days one of the electron microscopes developed a big fault. Bernadette didn't panic, she asked for advice from some of her colleagues and 2 days later an engineer came in and fixed the fault.

After a month she finally started to find her feet, she kicked 2 of Professor Kariuki's graduate students out of the lab for failing to follow safety procedures. They weren't allowed in the lab unsupervised for the next 3 months. Bernardette had a meeting with Kariuki afterwards.

Kariuki "Sorry you had to deal with this so early, especially after Jane had to leave early when her son was born. I haven't had much chance to talk to you since I welcomed you on day 1. How are you finding things?

Bernadette "It has been hectic, I think I know how everything works in the lab now."

Kariuki "Sorry about those two students of mine, they are bright but a bit lazy. Jane had had some problems with them 3 years ago, she kept them on their toes. When Jane left they must have thought "The cats away so the mice can play", not knowing we had got a tiger to replace Jane!"

Bernadette "Thank you Professor, maybe after this news will spread and people will not try cutting corners with lab safety whilst I am here."

Kariuki "Well done on getting the microscope fixed so quickly, Jane had a few problems with that one 2 years ago."

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After 2 months Bernadette had got the lab working properly on her terms, her Caltech working life got less hectic. Bernadette and Sheldon still hadn't got over the novelty of being able to spend evenings together during the week again, unlike with Bernadette's last 2 years at Zangen. They would still socialise with the other 5. Sheldon still had new Comic-Book night on Wednesday but Bernadette and Sheldon were able to have a "date night" most weeks.

However, Bernadette knew that the clock was ticking on her maternity cover time. Jane was planning to come back in 10 months time. She was already looking into possible new jobs but there wasn't much around that didn't either mean moving back to the pharmaceutical industry or moving away from California. Sheldon told her not to worry but Bernadette was already starting to think that she may end up back at the Cheesecake Factory.


	9. Batman interrupted

A sequel to "The Biophysical Relationship Evolution." The story continues 4 years on from Sheldon and Bernardette's wedding. Everything belongs to Chuck Lorre and friends. Part 9 - Bernadette's Caltech maternity cover job approaches its end.

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There was only one month to go before Dr. Parker was due back at work, she had been coming in every other Friday afternoon for the last 2 months to prepare to return to work. Bernadette did her best to keep her up to date how things were in the lab.

Bernadette was no closer to getting a new job, there was nothing academic suitable for her in Southern California. 4 months earlier her old Zangen boss started calling her out of the blue. At first Bernadette would politely say that she didn't work for him any more, didn't he remember the day he fired her? This kept happening so she wouldn't answer any more calls from him, she got Caltech to block any calls to her from Zangen. She knew that if she were to apply for any pharmaceutical industry jobs she would need a reference from Zangen and that wasn't likely to be a good one. As much as she had enjoyed working at Caltech she was getting worried that this would be a dead end.

Bernadette was starting to get nightmares about ending up back at the Cheesecake Factory and having to serve food to her old Zangen boss every day. Sheldon did his best to comfort his wife, reminding her that they wouldn't starve even if Bernadette wasn't working.

With two weeks to go Bernadette was starting to dread going to work as the end approached. On Monday morning she got a message asking her to meet with Professor Kariuki that afternoon. When she got there she was surprised to see Janine Davis with him.

Kariuki "Good afternoon Bernadette, thanks for coming. As you know your maternity cover contract at Caltech is coming to an end in 2 weeks when Dr. Jane Parker returns from maternity leave. We have all been very impressed with your work in the microbiology lab this last year, you have run a tight ship. Even those two students of mine who you kicked out of the lab last year say they will be sad when you stop working as an experimental officer. Caltech cannot continue your current contract as experimental officer after Jane returns. I am sure you are aware of that."

Bernadette "Yes, I have been aware of this for a year."

Kariuki "However, it has just been confirmed that next year I am going to be promoted to Assistant Dean of Biological Science here at Caltech, this will mean almost all of my time will be spent in administration. I will have to live your life at Zangen of endless meetings and not going near the lab. I am not going to have much time to spend running my research group."

Janine "So Caltech would like to offer you a new post of Senior Research Assistant, this would initially be a 5 year post but if you do a good job I would expect this would turn into an Assistant Professorship in due course. You would basically run Professor Kariuki's research group for him whilst he is otherwise occupied as Assistant Dean. You would get a pay rise compared to your current experimental officer salary although you would undoubtedly get more money back in the pharmaceutical industry."

Bernadette "So where do I sign?"

Janine handed over a big envelope full of papers "Have a look at these and get them back to me by the end of the day if you are happy. Knowing your husband he would probably want to see all this before you sign. If you want this job you would start the day Jane comes back."

Bernadette "I don't know what to say other than thank you."

Kariuki "Thank you Dr. Rostenkowski-Cooper, welcome aboard and keep doing some science for me."

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Ten minutes later Bernadette burst into Sheldon's office, Sheldon was talking to Leonard.

Sheldon "Bernardette, it is always good to see you at work but as you can see I am in discussion with Dr. Hofstadter."

Bernardette "I could hear you from outside, you were talking about Batman. Look at this!"

Bernadette showed her Janine's big envelope

Sheldon "What is this?"

Bernadette "Our chance to live happily ever after..."


End file.
